Recovering Memories
by Krazy Ky-Sta Hatter
Summary: John Smith is startled when the girl he had only ever seen in his dreams stumbles into his life. But she has no memory. She only knows three things: Rose. Doctor. Bad Wolf. And also that she loves him more than anything... But they've never met before!
1. Found and Lost

_**Hey guys! Yep, wow, I've got a lot of Doctor Who fics… and a few of them aren't even posted yet!**_

_**Now, I know there is a few stories out there kind of like this where Rose ends up in 1913… But one thing that usually annoys me is that she just coincidentally appears there. So, I have a reason =D**_

_**Also, one thing I noticed people seemed to do was make Rose pretend to have amnesia. And that got me thinking… what if she really did!**_

_**So, we start with the TARDIS! **_

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><p>.<p>

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***Recovering Memories***

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**Found and Lost**

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The TARDIS's consciousness floated through the Time Vortex. The Doctor had her on emergency power, so she couldn't be detected. Unfortunately, that meant she was like a paralysis patent. Her body couldn't do anything, but her mind was still wide awake.

She was bored out of her wits. Unknown to him - well, the extent at least - she was linked to the Doctor. He didn't know that she lived all of his adventures through him. Feeling his excitement and seeing through his eyes. She had only ever achieved this with one other person, and that was Rose.

But Rose was gone, and the Doctor was human. Her link to the outside world was cut off. She could only see what was going on inside her body… which was nothing aside from Martha's weekly visit.

Martha was nice, she did like the girl. But she wasn't the best. She didn't understand that she was truly alive. (Rose had realised that, even before she had opened her heart for the first time). That was her main problem. She didn't like it when people didn't truly acknowledge her or thought of her as an object. Even when Martha did talk to her, the girl thought herself silly.

But the other thing was what she was doing to the Doctor. She had fallen for him too fast. A deep fascination that bloomed out of his mystery, but it wasn't quite natural. A passing school girl's crush… or at least, that's how it seemed after Rose. And part of the Doctor saw this. But he was still grieving for the woman he loved. And Martha was not helping things by forcing herself upon him. Nor by bad mouthing a girl she didn't even know.

If she just fixed those two issues, then the TARDIS would have liked her right up there with Sarah Jane, and Romana. But not quite up with Rose. Because Rose was _her_ human. The one human brave enough to give her life in the most selfless way for the Doctor. It was her love for him that had changed many things. Rose used to be there with Sarah Jane and Romana… now, she was something else entirely.

Now, she was more of a sister to the TARDIS. Their life-forces were bonded together... What else was she supposed to do? Let her die? It was a miracle that Rose even lasted as long as she did with the Time Vortex inside her. She was so strong and so stubborn. And so compassionate. And so, too, too human.

She hand known what would happen to Rose if she looked into her heart. That had been why she had struggled to keep the hatch closed. But Rose had been so determined. Such love. She already cared for Rose too much, and she knew the Doctor did too. She wanted to do something to help, but the power of the Time Vortex was too strong within her for the TARDIS to do anything. It was seeing the Doctor kiss the Vortex out of her that had broken her. It would have been horrible to lose Rose; she would have mourned for years. But if the Doctor lost her… he would not survive. He was giving his life to keep a dead girl from burning.

She had felt the Vortex slipping away from Rose. Felt her weakening, her mind still burning slowly as she lay unconscious. She had taken her chance. A chance she had never dreamed of taking before. But she couldn't lose her human. And so, she bonded Rose's life to her own.

Rose had understood her so much more since then. She had noticed all the small things, like the singing that was almost always echoing through the halls, and the very slight presence in her mind. Even the faint tingly sensation that now ran through her veins. But she shrugged it all off as normal 'I'm travelling with the Doctor' stuff.

She hadn't noticed how sick she had felt the first time they went to the parallel universe. She had just believed that a) she wasn't feeling well, b) there was another crisis, and c) she had seen her parallel mother die and lost her best friend. All of the pain and sickness she felt were dismissed as emotional reaction, or went unnoticed in her distress. But she had been exhausted after the dilemma.

They had been so close… And now she was gone. Left to live an unnaturally long life alone.

Mentally, the TARDIS sighed. She missed her human.

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Floating, that's all she was doing. Floating. If she took a lot of effort, she could probably drift out and watch what was happening with the Doctor. But that would take too much energy. Besides, she was much more comfortable here in the Vortex. She was part of it, it was home.

It was then that she saw it. Somewhere ahead was big bright fracture lines. The swirling blue energy of the Time Vortex was slowly splitting apart. Bright white light was spilling through. She knew that sometime in their future something would be horribly wrong. But all she saw was the quick flicker of a figure as it slipped between the cracks.

Curiously, she got closer. She felt how time itself around these cracks was frozen. Time only moved within the worlds these cracks lead to. But no time moved in this broken part. So it was barely a second later that the figure slipped out of the cracks again.

In those few split seconds, she saw the familiar blonde hair and hazel eyes of her human, Rose Tyler. Squealing for joy, she launched her consciousness at the girl. Her energy was so strong in this moment that her conscious was able to physically touch. She hit her with a smack, winding Rose and causing her to drop the disk shaped item in her hand. It flew into the blue energy and fell through time, sparking and frying itself on the way.

Too late, the TARDIS realised that she was lost with out it. Rose gasped as the thing keeping her tethered to reality was taken from her. It was now just her in the Vortex. She began to shake as the raw power and energy tried to rip at her. Starting to panic, the TARDIS clung to the girl, trying to protect her as much as she could.

She had just enough strength to physically drag her through the Vortex to somewhere safe. She had to get Rose back to the Doctor. But already Rose's mind was beginning to burn from the energy. The Vortex was burning away at her skin and clothes. Her clothing fell away to ash and her skin blistered. She shrieked as her mind set alight. Being unprotected in the Time Vortex was killing her.

With a last effort, she pushed them through to the Vortex, into 1913, where Rose Tyler was left lying on the grass of a field, unconscious and all alone. The last thing the TARDIS saw before her exhausted consciousness was sucked back towards her body, was Rose's naked, burnt and scared body… shimmering gold.


	2. Forgotten

_**Hello! Sorry this one took SO BLOODY LONG! But, as you can see, I had been working away at all my many other stories. Then I got a little bit of writers block. My brain just keeps wanting me to bring the Doct… er, John Smith in there RIGHT NOW! Hopefully it won't take this long with the next chapter. Especially since a few of my other stories are drawing to a close.**_

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><p>.<p>

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**Forgotten**

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Pain. That was all she had felt; pure, utter, burning pain. Before it had been so intense that she had blacked out. Now she felt warmth against her skin, and she knew that she would be okay.

Through the thick black fog that was smothering her, she could hear voices. Someone yelled out and another voice responded. Then the voice was talking to her, but she couldn't make out what they were saying through the water that was drowning her and dragging her down.

The next thing she felt was someone picking her up and wrapping her in a blanket, and then she was moving; first being carried, then driven in a very shaky car. Somewhere in there, she blacked out again. When she came to, she was lying on a soft mattress.

This time, the world came into focus more and more. Eventually, she was able to open her eyes, and keep them open. She was met by the sight of an older blonde woman with a heart shaped face, peering anxiously down at her.

"Oh, thank heavens, you're awake," the woman said, crouching down next to her. "How do you feel?"

"Like my head is burning," she groaned. The woman placed her hand on her forehead and felt for her temperature.

"Hmm, your temperature is back to normal," she commented, and then she softened her voice. "I'm the Matron, Nurse Redfern. What is your name?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but faltered. She knew her name. Of course she did. How could she not know her name? She struggled to think, grasping at what ever she could. Finally and image came to her, a blood red flower with sharp thorns down its stem. In her mind she heard a familiar voice shouting the word to her. The voice was a man's and it was filled agony and anguish as he screamed her name at her.

"Rose…" she finally answered. "My name is Rose… Where am I? When am I?" the last question came to her lips, almost like a habit.

"When?" the nurse said in bewilderment. "It is the tenth of November, 1913."

"Yes, yes, of course," Rose said in a daze.

"Are you alright? You were found unconscious in Mr Clarke's fields. You were naked and rather badly bruised."

Bruised? For some reason, Rose thought that it should have been worse. "What happened?" she asked.

"We were hoping you would be able to tell us… Frankly we feared the worst…" she said the last part quietly. She noted the horrified, confused look on Rose's face. "Can you remember anything?" she asked in concern.

Rose thought hard, trying to dig deep. But nothing would come. There were only three things that would come to her mind. No matter how hard she tried. _Rose. Doctor. Bad Wolf._ That was it. Nothing else. Nothing else would come. She knew that there was something there, but she just couldn't get to it. The memories were being held out of her reach.

"I - I can't remember anything…" she said shakily. "I can't remember what happened… I can't remember where I'm from, or anyone I know. There's just… _nothing!_" And now she started to panic. What was she going to do, when she didn't even remember who she was?!

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. A moment later a short nearly baled man wearing round glasses stepped into the room. Rose subconsciously drew the sheets tighter to her, even though she was wearing a night gown that in her opinion covered _far_ too much.

"Ah, she's awake," the man said in a matter of face tone. "How is she doing, Matron?"

"Well, Headmaster, physically she's near fine from what I can tell. Just a few quickly disappearing bruises and exhaustion. But I fear she's suffering quite a severe case of amnesia. The only thing she can recall is her name."

"And what might that be, young miss?" he said, his voice becoming soft as he turned to face her. His expression was one of sympathy that she did not expect to see on such a war hardened face.

"Rose, sir," she tacked on the last part instinctively. "Rose…" Rose what? She didn't even know her last name. She tried to think for a moment, but still it was only those three things that would come. Rose - already knew that one. Doctor - well, if she _was_ a doctor, she didn't remember a thing about it. Besides, were there even female doctors in this time? Bad Wolf - …well, she wasn't bad… but it was the closest thing she had to name. "Wolf," she finished. "Rose Wolf."

"Miss Wolf, I'm afraid that the village doctor has had to leave to deal with a family matter in London. Nurse Redfern is the best in the village after him, and I trust she will take good care of you. Now, I hope you can excuse me, but can you recall anyone? Any family, husband, who may be worried for you?"

Rose stopped to think again, but trying to recall anyone else was near impossible. She tried again, but a sharp stab went through her head. She gasped then shook her head.

"Hmm, well, I'm afraid you will have to stay here for now. Other than your memories you seem to be in well enough health. I could provide you a place to stay and perhaps even some work as a maid… Actually, tell me, Miss Wolf, can you read?"

"I, erm… I think so," she replied. It was a couple of seconds later, but finally something came to her, just a small thing. "Shakespeare… I think I like Shakespeare…"

"Well then, perhaps, if you stay here," the Headmaster said. "You may like to take over as our new librarian."

Still in utter shock, all Rose could do was nod.

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><p><strong>?...DW…?<strong>

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><p>Rose looked about the library. It wasn't as big as her library - or so her head told her. But it was quaint, and quite sweet, yet somehow it retained that well kept school look. But that was probably because libraries didn't look like this anymore.<p>

This was to be her home until she could remember who she was and where she was supposed to be going. But already she was uncomfortable. It didn't feel right being here. And everything was all up tight and proper. It almost felt like she was out of her time. And it didn't help that people seemed to have been gossiping about her, because everyone had stared at her as she walked to the Library.

She straightened her stiff borrowed dress and smiled up at the shelves. She noted that a few were out of order and quite a lot seemed to be missing, especially in the history section.

"I'm afraid it's rather in disarray," Headmaster Rocastle told her. "The last librarian was quite old and a little bit strange in the head before she passed away. She didn't keep very good track of the books, but she was like family to us all. She had been with us for many, many years. Back before I was a boy even. But I'm sure you'll do a splendid job."

"Thank you, sir," Rose dipped her head.

"As you can see, a lot of books have been taken from this section. Our history teacher, Mr Smith, tends to rob the library of every book possible. I can ask him to bring as may as possible back if you wish to do an invitatory."

"Well, I guess that would be a start," she smiled. "I wouldn't really have known what to do first. Thank you so much for this."

"That's quite alright, Miss Wolf. I hope that your memories return soon." Then he turned on his heal and left.

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Rose got to work not long after she had been set up in her room, which lead just out from the library. She had been wearing a pair of diamond earrings - god knows how she could have been able to afford them - and one of the maids had been sent to trade them in the hope she could get enough money to start her off. She didn't really care about the earrings. They didn't feel all that special to her.

So far she had made her way around a few of the shelves, just straightening them out and putting out of order books in the right place. She figured she would check which books were on loan later. But already she was beginning to feel tired. She'd been working for an hour or so and the numbers were beginning to blur in front of her.

Just then she heard the doors slam. She peered around the corner just in time to see them fly open again and be slammed shut as a bunch of boys came charging in. One of the boys grabbed a smaller boy by the collar.

"Listen, you little wimp. If you-"

"Oi!" Rose called to them. The bunch of boys started at the sound of her voice and spun around to face her. "What do you think you're doing? Let go of him!" They all seemed so shocked by this that the boy's grasp slipped and the small boy was able to pull away.

"You can't speak to-"

"I bloody well can. I don't know what you were taught when you were growing up, but you don't push others around. Now, get out of here and leave this boy alone, or I'll tell Mr Rocastle."

The one who was obviously the leader of the group glared at her a moment before he conceded and gestured for the others that they were leaving. Not without one last push to the smaller boy who remained behind. When the door had closed, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Miss," he said.

"Are you alright?" she asked him.

"I'm fine, thank you. I've had worse."

"What's your name?"

"Timothy Latimer, Miss."

"I'm Rose," she smiled at him. "Rose… erm, well, I'm going by Wolf," she said awkwardly.

"Oh, are you that woman they found who's lost her memories?"

Rose nodded. "Listen, Tim, I know what it's like being bullied. You've got to stand up for yourself." Tim just looked at the ground. "But I'll tell you what; you can hide in here as often as you want, as long as you help me with inventory. To be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing. Just that Nurse Redfern wants me to be near her, just in case. And I don't want to be a burden. So, do we have a deal?" Rose held her hand out.

Tim looked at her curiously. "You're not like other women," he told her. Then he smiled shook her hand. Suddenly he gasped and went pale. He got a far away, panicked look in his eyes.

"Tim?" Rose asked. "Tim!" He looked up at her, startled. Fear was evident in his eyes. "Tim, are you alright?" she asked in concern.

"Erm, yes. Yes, Miss Tyler," he said quickly, drawing away his hand.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "You've gone pale." She didn't even notice when he called her by a different name.

"Yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking… I was going to ask you… But you wouldn't remember."

"Ask me anyway," she smiled.

"Do you know Mr. Smith?"

"I'm not sure," she shrugged. "I'll have to ask him when I meet him." Tom followed her as she went back to the shelf she had been on and continued working. After a moment, he picked up on what to do and started helping a shelf over. The entire time, he kept a cautious eye on her.

"You're taking this pretty well," he commented after watching her happily shelve away fro five minutes. "Losing your memories and all."

Rose gave him a weary smile. "I'm really not. I'm actually freaking out. But… there's nothing I can do about it for now. There's not point in stressing about. I mean, in the movies something always triggers it and they remember, so…"

"…Movies?" Tim said in confusion. What on Earth were movies? Were they like a film? He had heard of films, but he had never seen one.

"I don't know, I guess I'm just trying to be optimistic," she sighed, putting away another book.

"Well, you're doing a good job, ma'am… Thank you. For letting me stay here."

"Well, I could probably do with the company."

"I think you will remember who you are," he said with a certainty she wished she had.

"Perhaps… but for now, let's just see where this job takes us. I always did like a new adventure."


	3. I Know your Face

_**Hey! So, I've finally done the next chapter of this story. I think that after you write a certain story a few times, your brain starts screaming 'No! Why are we doing this AGAIN!' But, hey, I really want to get this one out. And I'm a drama student, I can deal with repetition.**_

_**I'm slowly chipping away at everything. So if one of your favourites haven't been posted in a while, fear not. I'm writing a little bit of each story, plus focusing mainly on one or two. I know that 'Through the Stars' and 'Footsteps' are most liked, but we have to give the other stories a chance too.**_

_**Anyway, enjoy this one!**_

_**Oh, also, a few people commented that Martha didn't seem suspicious enough of Rose, and I couldn't agree more. I wasn't very happy when I posted this, and I wasn't entirely happy with the conversation. So I've gone over and edited it. I feel much happier now.**_

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**I Know your Face**

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To say the truth, Rose was a little glad when the maid, Martha, had left. The woman had come to her with the dresses and the left over money from trading her jewellery.

Now, she had nothing against her ethnicity. In fact, she had no idea why people of this era were bigoted towards them. No, it was the way she had looked at her.

The entire time, Martha had looked at her suspiciously, as if she were some kind of danger she had to beware of. It had made her uncomfortable and even odder than she already felt. And she wished that someone would just look at her normally for once. Word had spread very quickly about who she was. Now everyone who saw her gazed at her in sympathy or curiosity.

Once again, she stuck her head down into the books. She liked this job. She was so focused on getting everything in order that it kept her mind off things like Martha and the fact that she could remember very, very little.

Already, she and Tim had reorganised and catalogued half of the books in the Dewey Decimal system. They had managed to get through A and B, before they got bored of doing things in order and decided to work backward through the non-fiction.

That was where they had hit a problem. The 900's of the Dewey Decimal system were 'History and Geography'. And it seemed that most of the books in this area had been taken out. Indeed, looking at the paperwork, it seemed that most of the missing books had been taken out by a 'Professor John Smith'. Headmaster Rocastle had told her it was likely he had the others too.

It was said that Professor Smith was rather absent minded. They said he was smart, a genius at times... but his head was in the clouds. He sounded sweet, and Rose couldn't wait to meet him.

And hadn't Tim asked her if she knew him?

It wouldn't be long till she met him anyway, though. The Headmaster had requested that Mr Smith bring back all the library books so she could get them in order long enough to at least figure out what was _actually_ missing.

She had asked Tim a bit about him, too. Tim seemed a bit uncertain about him, but that was probably because he was a very shy boy. Apparently Mr Smith had begun working here around two months ago. And he had bought his maid, Miss Jones, with him. She had been told that Miss Jones was nice, but seemed very different to most women… Like her, Tim had said. Though, considering the way the woman had treated her only a few hours ago, Rose didn't really want to be compared to her in anyway.

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"You do know we can just take more trips," she heard Martha enter the library. "Can you even see over that pile?"

"I can see perfectly well, thank you, Miss Jones," came an eerily familiar male voice. The second Rose heard it, her heart gave a pang of longing and excitement. That _voice_!

"You look like you're about to drop them all, Sir."

"I'm fine. Just, uh… left or right?"

"Right," Martha replied with a laugh in her voice. It was only a moment later that she walked around the corner. Behind her was a stack of books… that were hiding this man from view. "Hello, Miss Wolf."

"Martha. Thank you for helping with this." It might have been her imagination, but she thought she saw the man stiffen slightly at her voice.

"Yeah, well, Mr Smith has so many books it's going to take us a few more loads. Where should I put these?"

"Just over on that desk. You too, thank you, Mr Smith."

The both of them placed their piles, Mr Smith with much difficulty. With a slight grunt, he straightened up and turned around. When she saw his face, Rose gasped. There was just something so familiar about him. He seemed to be staring at her in shock, for some reason. Even that face… the face, the voice… Something…

Everything seemed so familiar about him. His height, his skinniness, the sharp angles of his gorgeous face… although, the hair seemed… wrong.

Before she knew what she was doing, Rose had launched herself into his arms. He caught her in surprise and she wrapped her arms around him tight, burying her head into his chest. She felt her eyes prickle and tears well up.

Suddenly she remembered what century it was, that this man probably didn't know her, and that she was, in fact, invading his personal space.

"I'm sorry," she squeaked, jumping back. She wiped at her eyes and stood with her hands behind her back. "I - I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to- I don't know what came over me- I-"

Mr Smith was staring at her with an open mouth and wide eyes. He floundered for a moment, trying to think of something to say, but he seemed to have gone into shock.

It was impossible… It was just _not_ possible in any way! It was her, the girl from his dreams, standing right in front of him. It sounded like her, looked like her… even acted like her. He was only mildly surprised by her lack of boundaries.

The point was, that there was no possible way for a figment of his dreams to become reality.

"I, ah- No, no, it's- Um. Alright. It's alright. I'm alright. I, ah… Books. There's more books. I'll go get them." And with that, he turned and strode out of the room as fast as he could without running, bumping into a shelf as he went.

Rose stared at the empty door for a few more seconds. That man was _so_ familiar. She had to know him. The second she had seen him, such feelings had been stirred within her. Feelings that she had never felt so strongly in her life. And he almost seemed to recognise her too.

Who was he? Who was he…?

The more she tried to think, the less anything would come to her. Finally, she staggered backwards to the desk, a hand clutching her aching head.

Why do they hurt… her memories?

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><p><em>Suddenly she got a flash of a large metal room. A man in black leather stood before her, worry on his face. Her vision was tainted with gold, and her mind burned.<em>

_"But why do they hurt…?" she whispered._

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><p>Rose stumbled back further, almost falling off the desk, her head laced with pain.<p>

"Are you alright?" a voice asked, seeming somewhat far away. Rose blinked up to see the woman, Martha. She'd forgotten there was someone else in the room. "Miss Wolf? Can you hear me?" As she spoke, the words became clearer.

"Ah, yes. Yes, I'm fine. Sorry, I…"

"I beg your pardon, ma'am, but what was that?"

"I'm not sure, Martha. He just… I think I know him. He's so… familiar." She felt something warm slide down her cheek, quickly turning cold from the icy room. She reached up and felt the wet trails on her cheeks. She looked at the tears on her fingers in confusion. Why was she crying? She bashed her hand against the desk, growling in frustration. "Why can't I remember?!"

Martha just looked at her critically for a moment. "You… really have lost your memories, haven't you?" she said sympathetically.

"What do you mean?"

"You're not just pretending. Not faking it or anything. You really have just lost your memories."

"Why the hell would I pretend to lose my memories?!" Rose cried. What the hell kind of idea was that? Why would anyone in their right mind do that?

"Well, it could have been a plausible reason for being here, without coming up with much of an excuse."

"You aren't making any sense!"

"And you aren't speaking like someone from this time!" Martha cried.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" She really didn't. Not from this time?

"Stop lying."

"I'm not! I can't remember anything! I can barely remember my own name! Why would I want to be here? I just want to go home!"

Martha looked at her, her eyes softening. This girl was clearly distressed and confused. She didn't know much about the Family, but she didn't think they acted like this. But the woman was talking and acting strangely. She seemed out of place here. "Okay, Miss Wolf, I'm going to ask you a question or say a word. And you answer with one word. Got it?"

"But... how can I answer. I don't remember anything. And when I try it just hurts."

"Then try not to think. Just answer," Martha told her, her voice not quite as harsh. "Okay, ready? Stars?"

Rose closed her eyes and tried not to think. She let the words come to her, barely paying attention as they slipped through her lips. "Brilliant."

"Outerspace?"

"Astronaut." Martha blinked. Definitely not from here. Last she checked, astronauts didn't exist at this point in time. But why would she give such a simple answer.

"Time?"

"Mine."

"Computer?"

"Internet." _So_ not from this time.

"Blue box?"

"Home." She couldn't mean the TARDIS, could she? Martha hesitated before asking the next one.

"Love... no, pain." Suddenly her eyes snapped open as she realised what Martha had said. "Wait! Did you say Doctor? What do you know about him?" Martha clammed up and Rose grabbed her as she pleaded. "Please, Martha. I can only recall three things and that name is one of them. I... I know it's not a regular doctor. And there's this face. It keeps trying to push it's way through, but it hurts. When I try to think about the face my head tells me he's the Doctor. And... and I think Mr Smith looked like him, a bit."

Martha scrutinised the woman a little longer. She was from some other time and was looking for the Doctor, just like the family. But on the other hand she had said that the 'blue box' was her home. And besides, she had a memory of what he looked like, and that memory was trying to surface. The Family had not seen the Doctor. Finally, she conceded.

"Look, Miss Wolf, I can't be too careful. There are people, bad people, looking for the Doc- for Mr Smith. But he doesn't know that. We came here so he would be safe, but they're still looking for him. They can… change what they look like. It's my job to look out for him and make sure they don't find him. And I'm sorry, but a girl from nowhere, with no memories, who doesn't act or sounds like she's from 1913 seemed a little suspicious."

"…Yeah, fair point," Rose shrugged.

"And," Martha went on, dragging the word out. "I just told you all of that, and you don't think I'm crazy."

"Yeah, well…" Rose paused. "I don't know, I guess I'm used to it. I just don't find anything you said… strange. It's more strange to me, the fact that I'm working here and living linear time."

"Ha! You said linear time!" Martha said, pointing a finger at her. "Time traveler."

"Can't really agree, or disagree," Rose grinned uncomfortably. "Although, it does… seem familiar." She pulled up a chair for Martha and herself and sat down. Out of habit, it took Martha a little longer to sit.

"Well, I'm Martha Jones. I'm from the year 2007. I'm companion to the Doctor."

"You do know about him!" Rose said in surprise, sitting straight in her chair.

"Yeah… He's really only one of a few things you can remember?"

Slumping back, Rose began to fiddle with her skirts. "Well, yeah. I mean, other things just pop into my head out of nowhere. But when I woke up, there were just three things. Doctor. Bad Wolf. And Rose."

"R-Rose."

"Yeah, I figured it was my name. It just seemed right… But my last name isn't. I just used the wolf part of Bad Wolf, because it was the only other thing I knew. And Doctor didn't really seem to fit."

"You're Rose."

"Yep... I think."

"Well, then," Martha paused and swallowed, pushing down her feelings of pain and jealousy. "You just earned my trust completely."

"…Why's that?"

"I've heard of you," Martha said.

"He talks about me?!" Rose said in joyful surprise. She had no idea where that emotion was coming from, but just hearing that made her very happy.

"Yeah. He does."

"So… John Smith is the Doctor?" Rose guessed. "Because so far he's the only really familiar thing I've seen."

"Yep. But… best not to go around saying it too much. He's being hunted by these aliens called the Family. They want to… Well, consume his essence, I guess… Oh, crap."

"What?"

"I just realised why he acted like that when he saw you," Martha said. "To hide him, we had to turn him human. He doesn't actually remember being the Doctor. He's convinced that he's a human History teacher from the year 1913… but he has dreams. If he's dreamt about his life as the Doctor, he's probably dreamt about you."

"So… he recognized me… from a dream."

"Looks like it. He's probably freaking out right now."

"Oh dear. Hold on, there's something I'm missing. The Doctor's here… There's something else with him… I can't quite…"

"The TARDIS?"

"TARDIS! That sounds really familiar." Martha laughed at how excited Rose got at the mention of the machine.

"Tell you what, I'll take you to see it sometime."

"Yay!" She joyfully clapped her hands a little, causing Martha to laugh. Something about that sounded so wonderful.

"You cannot be serious," they suddenly heard someone else enter the library. A student.

"No, I saw it myself," said another. "He was talking to Matron, all flustered and whatnot, next thing you know, he's toppling down the stairs. All the way to the bottom, a good trail of books following him."

"Blimey! Mind you, it's not exactly unexpected from Mr Smith."

Martha and Rose looked at each other with wide eyes, then, at the same time, stood and ran. Martha led the way to his office, where he would no doubt be. There, they found Ms Redfern tending to a wound on his head.

"Because it hurts," they heard him say sulkily.

"Is he all right?" Martha said breathlessly.

"Excuse me, Martha. It's hardly good form to enter a master's study without knocking," Ms Redfern scolded.

"Sorry, right, yeah," she said in annoyance. She strode out past the still frozen, and unacknowledged Rose, to the door. She blatantly knocked on it, before coming back in and standing by Rose. "But is he all right? They say you fell down the stairs, Sir."

"It was just a tumble, that's all," he said, clearly not happy at the attention. He hadn't looked up since Martha had burst in.

"That's all?!" Rose cried in alarm. At the sound of her voice, Mr Smith stiffened. "You 'tumbled' down a _flight of stairs_!" Automatically, she went to his side.

"Have you checked for concussion?" Martha asked the nurse.

"I have. And I dare say I know a lot more about it than you," Ms Redfern said sternly. Martha nodded and stood down silently. Rose got the impression that not only was Martha sick of being treated that way, but she actually did know more about it than the nurse. She could practically _see_ Martha twitching to go over and help.

"Sorry," Martha said. "I'll just… tidy your things…"

Rose had been too busy watching the interaction, that she had failed to see the familiar man next to her, staring at her with wide eyes. Now she did.

"Are you all right, Doctor?" the words automatically slipped from her lips. Three heads snapped sharply towards her. Mr Smith looking at her almost in fear, Martha in warning, and Ms Redfern in curiosity.

"Doctor?" she said. "As in your dreams?"

"Dreams?" Rose questioned.

"Y-yes," Mr Smith stuttered. "I was just telling Nurse Redfern- Matron, um, about my dreams. They are quite remarkable tales, Miss Wolf."

"Rose," she said.

At this, Mr Smith practically went white. "Wh-what?"

"My name. It's Rose. I'm… not really certain that Wolf is my last name. So, please, just call me Rose."

"R-right. Yes, sorry, of - of course."

"It's all right. W-would I be allowed to hear these stories?" she said hopefully. If this man really was part of her past, which every fibre of her being was telling her he was, then he may be able to help her remember.

"Yes, well, I keep imagining that I'm someone else. I'm called the Doctor, a man from another world… a madman, really. And - and I have two hearts."

"Two hearts?!" Ms Redfern said in surprise. "Well, then, I can be the judge of that." She went into her medical bag and pulled out a stethoscope. Mr Smith leaned back, with his hands on his stomach, looking almost relaxed as she placed the end over where his heart was, then where it would be. Although he looked relaxed, Martha noticed that he kept glancing back at Rose. "I can confirm the diagnosis. Just one heart. Singular."

Mr Smith chuckled a little, shaking off the strange feeling he got whenever he looked at the mysterious woman from his dreams.

"I have written down some of these dreams in the form of fiction… um… not that it would be of any interest…"

"I'd be very interested to have a look," Rose said. If anything – _anything -_ could jog her memory, she would be happy.

"As would I," Ms Redfern said.

Smiling in surprise, Mr Smith got up and moved to his desk. "Well… I've never shown it to anyone before." He went back over and showed them a black, leather bound journal. He opened it to the first page and held it out so the three of them could see it.

"Journal of Impossible Things," Ms Redfern read off the first page.

"Nothing's impossible," Rose grinned. "Just a bit unlikely."

"Just look at these creatures!" Ms Redfern gasped in amazement. "Such imagination."

"They're incredible," Rose said. And even better, almost everything she saw in that book seemed very familiar.

"Mmm. It's become quite a hobby."

"It's wonderful."

As Mr Smith turned the next page, they saw a glimpse of a familiar looking woman, before the book was snapped shut.

"Anyway," he said, holding the book behind his back. "The stories really are brilliant, but some are quite sad. I travel through worlds and through time. There's this box, the blue box. It's always there. It's like… like a magic carpet. This funny little box that transports me to faraway places."

"Like a doorway?"

"Mmm."

"Blue box…" Rose muttered. "Bigger on the inside."

"S-sorry?" Mr Smith stuttered.

"Well… it - it's got to be, right? You said it was this box… but I saw a drawing of this ship inside. How could all of that fit in a small blue box."

Mr Smith blinked at her for a second. He had not realised she'd seen that picture. He felt a smile creep up his lips. "I sometimes think how magical life would be if things like this were true," he admitted.

"If only," Ms Redfern agreed.

"It's just a dream." He gave a short, quiet laugh.

"I, ah, I best be off," Ms Redfern said. "Heaven forbid there are any children needing my help down there. You should be all right, Mr Smith. I hope your head feels better soon."

"H-head? Oh, yes. Right, of course. Thank you. Good day, Joan, ah, Matron."

Joan tried to hide a small giggle before she dipped her head and left.

"Mr Smith?"

"Hmm?" he said, looking up at Rose.

"Could I… borrow that journal? Just… I noticed that there was more in it. And I would very much like to read the rest of it."

"Um, yes. Yes, of course you can." He held the journal out to her, and carefully, she took it from his hand. "Perhaps you could help me make sense of it."

Rose smiled. "I'll see what I can do for you. Good day, Mr Smith." Then, she turned to leave.

"John."

"Excuse me?" she said, turning back to him.

"Call me John. I get to call you Rose, it's only fair that you get to call me John."

Rose's special tongue in teeth grin spread across her face. "Good day, John." And she left.

Martha looked at him as he stood there, looking at the empty doorway. "Goodbye, Rose," he whispered.


	4. Fallen Star

_**Hello!**_

_**Okay, so this one took a little longer than I thought. But that's partly because I have the flu, partly because I spent a good day or two researching something for the plot, and partly because I ran out of ideas half way through and my new idea extended the chapter by a couple of pages. So, to welcome back this story, we're kicking off with an extra long chapter. I've decided to take this one in a completely different direction to where I first decided. So hopefully it will turn out not quite so close to the original story line.**_

_**Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new chapter, and I'll hopefully have something new up soon!**_

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><p>.<p>

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**Fallen Star**

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Rose snuggled down into her coat, trying to shelter herself against the wind. A slight frost could be seen on the ground and condensation drifted from anything that radiated heat. The coat was heavy and scratchy and still did little against the cold.

"Ooh! It's freezing out here!" Martha cried as she arrived back at the table with three pints of ale. "Why can't we have a drink inside the pub?"

"Now don't be ridiculous," Jenny scolded. "You do get these notions! Would you listen to her, Rose? It's all very well those Suffragettes, but that's London. That's miles away."

"London...?" Rose said. She mulled the word around in her head for a bit. She'd heard it said a few times now and every time it brought a feeling of familiarity... but not homesickness. Not like when she thought of that particular shade of blue and a beautiful humming in the air.

"But don't you want to scream sometimes? Having to bow and scrape and behave, don't you just want to tell them?"

Jenny smiled softly. "I dunno. Things must be different in your country."

"Yeah, well, they are. Thank God I'm not staying."

"You're leaving?" Rose said.

"Yeah."

"You keep saying that," Jenny said playfully.

"Just you wait. One more month and I'm free as the wind. I wish you could come with me, Jenny. You'd _love_ it!"

"Where are you going to go?"

"Anywhere." She turned her head up to the sky. "Just look up there. Imagine you could go all the way out to the stars."

Jenny laughed. "You don't half say mad things!"

"Up to the stars? Sounds incredible. Not a bad life."

"That's where I'm going. Into the sky, all the way out. You – you could come with me... if you wanted, Rose."

"That would be amazing," she grinned. "But... I still get the feeling like I have to find something." She looked up at the sky. She got the feeling that she did that a lot. Suddenly she was distracted as a bright green light shot across the sky. She'd never seen anything like that before.

"Did you see that?" Martha said.

"Yeah."

"See what?"

"Did you see it, though?" She stood and pointed to a place in the sky. "Right up there, just for a second."

"Martha, there's nothing there."

"No, I saw it too. That green light. Like something breaking the atmosphere, but it's colour was too strange to be a meteor or any natural piece of debris."

"Ooh, would you listen to this one," Jenny laughed. "Right set of brains on her."

"Of course," Martha said, a half smile, half frown on her face. After all the Doctor had said about her, how could she _not_ be incredibly smart.

"Me? Nah. I'm not that smart," she said looking down. "Dropped out of school for a boy. Not too bright, was it?"

"School?! You went to school?!"

Rose looked up at her, startled. "Did I?"

"Uh, you just said that you dropped out of school for a boy."

"Huh... I don't know. I things just come into my head and I just say them. Don't know what I'm saying half the time, but it's got to be something, right? Maybe part of my memories?"

"Could be," Martha told her. "Amnesia isn't easy. Brains are funny things and you never know what it could do to you."

"Jeez, all I know about brains is that you either got them, or you don't," Jenny said, baffled by the things they were saying.

They were interrupted when they saw Matron coming down the road with her bike. She seemed quite distressed and kept looking up at the sky in worry.

"Matron, are you alright?" Martha asked her.

"Did you see that?" She cried. "There was something in the woods... this light..."

Mr Smith emerged from the pub and walked over to them. "Anything wrong, ladies?" he asked. "Far too cold to be standing around in the dark, don't you-"

"There!" Joan interrupted. They all looked where she was pointing to see the green streak of light travelling through the sky. "There, look in the sky!"

"That's beautiful!" Jenny gasped. The light faded out.

"There... all gone," John said. "Commonly known as a meteorite. It's just rocks falling to the ground, that's all."

"It came down in the woods."

"No, no, no, they always look close when they're actually miles off. Nothing left but a cinder."

"Rose doesn't think so," Jenny said. "Said the light was too strange for a meteorite."

"True, it was odd in colour. But I assure you it's nothing that can't be explained by science. Now, I shall escort you back to the school."

Joan nodded shakily. "Rose should come along too," she said pointedly. "I'm still not certain of her condition and being out in this cold drinking ale of all things cannot be good for her."

Grudgingly, Rose sighed and pushed her drink to the side. "Fine, I guess you're right." She stood and pulled her warm things closer as she walked over to join them.

"Ladies?" John asked Martha and Jenny.

"No, we're fine, thanks," Martha said distractedly as she stared up into the sky.

"Then I shall bid you goodnight," he said.

"Night, Martha. Night, Jenny," Rose called to them with a smile. They started walking off down the lane when she looked at Joan and remembered something. "Um, Joan, didn't you bike here?"

Joan froze, her eyes widening. "Oh my goodness, I did."

"Would you like us to go back for it?" John asked her.

"Oh, no, no. It's fine. It's not far. I'll go and grab it. I may as well bike ahead. I will be fine. Rose, I want to to come and see me in the morning, just to see how you are doing, alright?"

"Okay," she nodded with a half hearted smile. She didn't like this being fussed over. Not in this way.

"Alright, then. Goodnight to you both."

"Goodnight," they both said.

Joan went off in the direction they had come from and the two of them continued on. They walked for a way in silence, John held his hands behind his back looking rather uncomfortable, but he seemed happy enough. Rose was pretty happy herself, she was enjoying his company very much. Just being near him made her feel better, made her feel safe. In fact, she was humming. A warm feeling string up inside her. She felt like her entire body was singing. No... hold on... she was shaking. Why was she shaking?

"Are you alright?" John suddenly asked her, concern creasing his brow.

"Yes, I'm fine," she told him. It wasn't very convincing when her teeth began to chatter.

"You're cold."

"No, really. I feel fine. Warm as a fire."

Without really listening to her, John took off one of his gloves and grabbed her hand. "You're ice to the bone! Here." They stopped walking and he stood in front of her. He took off his other glove, then taking her hands, slipped them onto hers. They were too big for her, but they were warm. She still didn't think she really needed them, she felt fine, but it was nice. Then he saw that she only had her coat buttoned up to her neck and he started to unwind the scarf from around his. Rose stared up at his face as he focused on wrapping it around her own neck. When he was certain she would be warm enough, he looked back up at her... and seemed to freeze. He just stood there, staring at her. He was so close to her, his mouth open as if he didn't know what to say or do. Rose stood waiting for him to do _something_. "Sh-Shall we continue?" he stammered.

Rose blinked. "Y-yeah." Okay, so it seemed she had been waiting for him to do something else. But what she wanted, not even she knew. All she knew was that this man was _so_ familiar. She didn't know who John Smith was. She didn't know who the Doctor was. But part of her told her that she needed him. And who ever he was, he gave her a sense of comfort and belonging. And happy. He made her feel _incredibly_ happy.

"Right, then." This time he held his arm out to her and she looped her arm though his. With a slight smile, he drew her closer to him, trying to share his body warmth. Once again they began walking down the road. "So, I see you and Miss Jones are becoming quite good friends."

"Yeah, I really like her," she told him. "She's nice to me... And she doesn't treat me like a fragile broken thing like everyone else."

"I don't think you're broken. And from what I hear, you are anything but fragile."

"And what have you heard?"

"Oh, that you've been giving the boys a roughing up when the deserve it, not even bothering to find a teacher. Calling out anyone who is... ungentlemanly towards you. I must say, it is very uncommon for a woman to do such a thing, but I admire that you do. I don't see how you can be broken when you have such passion with everything you do." Rose blushed at his words, bowing her head to hide it from him. "Speaking of your, erm... condition, would it be too forward of me to ask how you are coping? Are you remembering anything?"

"Um... not exactly. It's all just... emotions and senses. Feelings of familiarity. Sometimes things just come into my head and I say them, but I don't have the memory to go along with it. It's frustrating and it's scary, but I've dealt with worse."

His brow creased. "What like?"

"I don't know... See, that's what I mean. I say things, but it's like I'm saying them on impulse. Martha thinks I can get more answers that way. Quick round of questions without thinking. She reckons if I do that then I'll just blurt out something true."

John tilted his head in thought. "Well, the idea does have potential."

"Yeah. I just wish... I wish I knew who I was already. I wish I knew my last name, and my family. I wish I knew why I feel so out of place here."

"I'm sure you'll find your way. And I think there are many people, like myself, who would be – be willing... to – to help," he stuttered out.

Rose smiled softly. "Really?"

"Yes," he said, looking as if he had only just made up his mind. "Yes, I will."

"That's brilliant! Maybe with you I can find more out. I mean, you are one of the few things that actually feel familiar to me."

John swallowed. "I – I am?"

"Yeah. Are you sure we don't know each other?" she teased. "I am in your book after all."

For a moment, this brought him up short and his step faltered, but he quickly recovered and carried on. "Yes... well, that drawing was rather recent. Perhaps I had seen you around town and picked up on your face. Did you know that there is a theory that you can not dream a face you haven't seen?"

Rose knew he was lying. That page of her was half way through the book. "I guess that makes sense. But then how did you know my name?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"In your journal, you keep saying 'a perfect Rose'. If you only saw my face, how would you know my name?" Even in the dark, Rose could see the blush that had spread across his cheeks.

"I am not certain."

"Um... another thing. On the page about me... You keep saying that I am walking away from you. What – What does that mean?"

"I don't know," he said honestly. "I can never make sense of those dreams. Some times I think I'm going mad."

"I think you're just open to the possibilities," she told him. "Though, I can see why you're confused. You don't make the book very easy to read. I'm not sure who you're talking about at one point or another. Oh, speaking of the book, do you want it back? I've finished reading it."

"Ah, yes. Yes, I suppose it would be good to have it back. I have more to enter, after all."

"Really? What are you going to put in there?"

"Well, I – I dreamt of a planet. It was beautiful. It was called Woman Wept... or Weeping Woman, I can't quite remember any more. But it was named so because the shape of the land from above looked like a lamenting woman. But _on _ the planet, almost everything was ice. It was like everything had been frozen in a split second of time. The ocean was still in perfectly formed waves. You could see creatures not far below the surface of the ice, frozen in the water forever. The Doctor went there with... his friend. His companion."

"It sounds wonderful."

"Yes, that's why he took her there. Earlier on in the story, he seemed to go everywhere just to show his companion amazing things. He did it to see the look on her face. But... then she just... disappeared. She stopped showing up in the dreams. And now the Doctor seems to be travelling to distract himself. He misses her more than anything. Recently the dreams have just been... tainted with an overwhelming sadness."

They fell into silence at his words, a sad and almost unbearable feeling coming over them. The only sound around them was the wind and the chattering of Rose's teeth. She wished it would stop. It's not like she was cold. If anything, she was hot... too hot. It was so stifling that she was on the verge of feeling that she was being smothered. A headache was steadily coming on, but she couldn't do a thing about it. She would kill for some paracetamol right now.

"I'm sorry, but are you sure you're alright?" John asked her in concern. "You seem to have gone horribly pale."

"I'm fine," she lied.

"Perhaps I should take you to Matron right away."

"No no it's okay," she instead. "I'll be fine. I think I just need to sleep."

"We should get you back as soon as we can. Are you able to walk faster?"

"Yes. I told you I'm alright. It's just a bit of a head ache."

John said nothing, but she was sure he shook his head in exasperation. She barely noticed the increase in their speed. She didn't even notice their surroundings, everything was blurred and moved around horribly fast. All she could distinguish were a few dark colours, and a little bit of light. As the headache grew worse, the light got nearer, which did not help the pain that was splitting her head. She could still feel the tremors that were rocking her body, and her skin felt horribly uncomfortable. It was as if something was prickling underneath the surface. She could no longer tell if she was hot or cold. She was vaguely aware of hands supporting her and a concerned voice. She noticed a few small whimpers and low moans, but she wasn't sure where they were coming from. All she knew now was the agony that was slowly closing in on her, making the world a blur of colour and harshness. She thought this was over. Why couldn't it just end?!

John walked through the school halls as fast as he could, Rose easily supported by him. Students and teachers alike stared as he all but ran past. Rose was looking terrible. All colour had left her face, and her eyes were squeezed shut in pain. The small whimpers that had started up about ten minutes before hand were now constantly bubbling from her lips.

Finally reaching the nurse's door, he began to bang on it furiously with his free hand. He hoped that she was back. Joan hadn't biked back past them on her way home, and he feared that she was still back at the pub, or worse.

"Joan?!" he called, still wrapping on the door, despite his aching knuckles. "Matron? Joan, Nurse Redfern, _please. _You are needed urgently. Jo-" The door swung open underneath his hand and he missed hitting the woman in the face by mere inches. "Terrible sorry," he said in a rush. "I need your help."

He didn't need to say anymore, because at that point, Joan saw Rose tucked away under his arm. "Rose!" she cried in surprise. "Oh, my dear girl. Quick, get her inside." With a nod, he followed her in and lay the shaking girl down on the small cot she'd been placed in when she first arrived. "What happened?" Rose had certainly not been like this when she had left them.

"I don't know," he told her. "She – she was fine when you left. But then she became really, really cold. So I – I gave her my scarf and gloves. And she insisted that she was fine. But she was shaking and – and – and soon she started to whimper. So I got her back here as soon as I could. And-"

"John!" He fell silent. "Thank you. You did the right thing." Going over to the girl and taking off the scarf and gloves and opening the jacket, she felt her head. "You're right. She's ice co-" Her eyes widened and her mouth stopped half way open. On the cot, Rose's whimpering changed in pitch, going higher.

"What is it?"

"Her temperature just changed. Quite drastically. In less than a second she became boiling hot."

"What does that mean?"

Joan looked at him, perplexed. "I'm not sure. I've never heard of anything like this. She's clearly in a lot of pain... Rose," she tired gently. "Rose, can you hear me." The girl whimpered and curled down further into herself. "Rose, can you tell me what hurts. What's wrong?"

Hands went to cover her ears at the sound of the direct noise, and one ran into her hair and gripped it tightly. "Head... H-head h-hurts. Skin c-crawling. Ss-s-so c-cold."

"You're cold?" Rose nodded her head and Joan looked up at John hopelessly. "I don't know what to do. I've never seen this before. It's as if she has a fever, but this is so much worse than that."

"But there is something that you can do, correct?" he asked, concern in his voice.

Joan sighed and looked at Rose as she thought for a second. "I'll treat it as a fever. Give her something to ease the pain and hope she shows improvement in the morning."

John nodded. "Is there anything that I can do?"

"You can help me take her back to her room. She will be more comfortable there, and more isolated in case this happens to be infectious. For now I'll give her some of this." She went into a cupboard and pulled out a palm sized bottle full of brown liquid. "Sit her up for me, would you, John?" John nodded once more and going over to Rose, he gently placed a hand underneath her back and sat her up slightly. Taking a teaspoon, Joan poured the brown liquid into the spoon and placed it in Rose's mouth, encouraging her to swallow. Rose tried to spit it out and grimaced at the bitter taste, but had no choice to drink it down. She coughed and spluttered, trying to get rid of the taste, and bent over as the pain continued.

"What now?" he asked.

"Now we take her to her room. We need to bring the fever down." She began walking around the room, grabbing items and bundling them in her arms. "Could you take her please?" Hesitantly, he looked at her, unsure as to how he would do so. "Oh, stop being so modest and pick her up. She'll need to be carried."

"Right, yes. Of course," he stuttered.  
>He dipped down and placing an arm under her knees, and one behind her back, he lifted her up. She was much lighter than he had expected. Not that he had thought that she would be overly heavy, but she couldn't weigh more than a child. Making sure he had a secure grip, he followed Joan out of the room and down the halls. As they got closer and closer to her room, Rose's whimpers faded out till it was just winces. By the time the reached her door, there was a soft smile on her face, despite the sheen that still covered her forehead. She opened her eyes and stared up at him with large, dilated pupils. A small giggle escaped her lips.<p>

"Hello," she said, sounding rather sleepy.

"Hello," he replied, giving her a reassuring smile in return.

"_What_ happened?!" a shout rung out across the hall. At the sound of shoes clipping across they floor, they all looked up to see Martha running towards them. "What's wrong? Is Rose alright?"

"Hello, Martha," Rose grinned. She seemed almost drunk, her words slurring.

"As we were walking back, Rose seemed to... er... fall ill," John informed her.

"She was having terrible headaches and seemed to suffer from a very severe fever. I gave her something to relieve the pain and we're about to try and dull the fever."

"Something to... What did you give her?" She had studied the history of medical drugs and narcotics, and she knew that not many remedies were safe at this point in time.

"I gave her a dose of Papine." Martha looked at her with a blank expression. "It's a preparation of opium."

"Opium! You gave her opium?! Do you know how addictive that stuff is? People were still overdosing on it not twenty years ago!"

"Now, calm down there, Martha. I'm sure Matron wouldn't give Rose anything she considered unsafe."

"That's correct, Miss Jones. Papine is much safer. It's more pleasant and less addicting." Martha scoffed. "I only gave her one dose, and hopefully she will not need another."

"Fine then," she snapped. "I'll help you look after her."

"Yay!" Rose cried quietly. "I like Martha. Martha is my friend. We're from the same place. Time..." She turned and looked up at John. "She's a doctor, too."

"Well, it seems that Rose has decided," Joan said. "In a way." She gave John a nod and they made their way through the library to her room. "You're from the same place as her?"

Martha just shrugged. Beside her, John placed Rose down in her bed.

"I hope you feel better soon," he told her, giving her an awkward nod. Then he made his way to the door. He was stopped by a few simple words from the girl.

"I love you." He froze where he stood and looked back at the others. They were looking at him in surprise. A few sounds stuttered out of his mouth, then he turned again and strode out the door as fast as he could. Rose barely noticed. "If he says 'quite right, too' again, I'm going to kick his ass." Joan's eyebrows rose in surprise at the language she was using. "Bloody time wasting Time Lord. He nearly said it. Then 'poof'! Gone. Gone forever."

"She seems to have gone sightly delusional. It's an effect of the opium, sometimes."

"I know," Martha said. Opium was still a main ingredient in Morphine, a drug still used back in this time. Really, the effects weren't so different. And she had seen her fair share of people on morphine.

"What did she mean when she said you were a doctor too?"

"I'm not sure. She's delusional and things are twisting in her brain. But she could have been referring to the fact I was a nurse back where I came from." It was a lot easier just to lie, but still she could see Joan looking at her sceptically. She sat Rose up and attempted to take her coat off. Rose just pouted.

"He's changed again and I don't like it. First time he changed his face and his mind. Now it's just his mind, and he's a little silly. But he's not mine anymore. He has you to hold his hand."

"It's okay, Rose. I'm sure he's still yours. I was just making sure he didn't go crazy without you. Now, can you wiggle your bum off the coat and we can get you all sorted." She snatched her hand back when she felt Rose's skin. It was damp with a thin layer of sweat, and hotter than a human should ever be. Rose obeyed her and lifted up so the coat could be pulled away. She even started to unlace her dress, and with a little bit of help, she was in nothing but her chemise.

"I can't wait to travel with my Doctor again. The TARIDS singing in my head. Time swimming around me. Running through stars and galaxies, holding his hand. It's been so long."

"Has it?" Martha said, worry in her voice. She wished there was a way she could keep her quiet. They couldn't let _anyone_ know.

"Yeah. I fell five years ago. We were separated by the walls for that long. Universes away with no way back. Till I found one."

"Well, you're very clever," Martha said. She had to find a way to quiet her down. Joan was looking at them oddly. "She was reading that journal of Johns," she whispered.

"Yep. I am. I didn't used to be. Dropped out of school. Didn't get my A levels. But he thought I was clever. So when I got stuck I studied everything. I'm very smart, me. I'm a rocket scientist... kind of."

"That explains why she's speaking such nonsense," Joan smiled.

"That's brilliant," Martha said, trying to get her comfortable and still. "How about you try and get some sleep, and everything will be better again in the morning."

"I'll have him back?" Rose said hopefully. Her wide glassy eyes staring up at her was so sweet. She seemed so innocent. And Martha found a lump forming in her throat. But whether it was over Rose's situation, the fact she had truly realised that the Doctor would never be hers, or both, she wasn't sure.

"Yeah," she lied, swallowing the lump. "Yeah, you will."

"Good." And with a blissful smile on her face, Rose's eyes drifted shut.

"She seems adamant that she has to find someone, or that she lost someone. Do you think it's John's book or a bit of reality leaking through?"

"Reality," she replied. "I think it was reality."


End file.
